Russ Smith Lands Another Opportunity After Scoring Explosion In China

After averaging a Russdicilous 70.8 points per game playing in the Chinese NBL for Luoyang over the past several months, Russ Smith has found a new place to call home for the upcoming year.

It was announced that Russ Smith, 26, has signed with Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association, China’s highest professional basketball league.

Fujian has historically been considered one of the CBA’s top teams with a history of signing former
NBA players including Al Harrington, JJ HIckson, Dwight Buycks, and former Louisville commit Jeremy Tyler.

Russ Smith will join fellow American’s Christian Wood, who last played with the Charlotte Hornets and was a former teammate of Smith’s with the NBA G-League Delaware 87ers, as well as Brandon Bowman this season on the Fujian roster for the upcoming season.

While it is highly unlikely that Smith will be able to maintain the scoring needed to keep up a 70 point per game average, it is likely that he will become one of the league’s top scorers and maybe even players from day one. Going up against the CBA’s high level talent should give Smith the opportunity to show scouts that he is more than deserving of another opportunity to play in the NBA.

Jacob Lane joined The Cardinal Connect in August of 2017 after previously writing for CardinalSports.com on the Rivals Network. Jacob covers anything and everything Louisville Cardinals. Follow him on Twitter @Jacob_Lane08